


3 reasons why Levi wears a cravat

by ladyknightanka



Category: Shingeki no Kyojin | Attack on Titan
Genre: Cuddling & Snuggling, Engagement, Fluff and Angst, Love Bites, M/M, Mild Language, Past Violence, Scars, Secret Relationship, Size Difference, Ties & Cravats, Time Skips
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2013-08-22
Updated: 2013-08-22
Packaged: 2017-12-24 08:38:57
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,801
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/937906
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/ladyknightanka/pseuds/ladyknightanka
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Erwin returned, a wall between Levi and the room, too great a presence to ignore any longer. Levi peeked up at him through the dark fringe of his lashes, and found that he was still smiling, his sizable hands a cradle for a rectangle of frilly white cloth.</p>
<p>"What's that, a snot-rag?"</p>
            </blockquote>





	3 reasons why Levi wears a cravat

**Author's Note:**

> This was at first loosely inspired by fanart that's since been removed, offering one hypothesis about Levi's cravat, and it made me wonder about _other_ things he could be hiding beneath it. Hence, this fic.
> 
> The first part is relatively dark and involves a serious injury Levi got in his street days, but the rest is sweet. I hope it's a fun read!
> 
> ETA: You can find absolutely gorgeous art inspired by this fic [here](http://sennfan.tumblr.com/post/79261404366/i-did-that-thing-again-inspired-by)! Thanks again to Senn, the artist.

-

3 reasons why Levi wears a cravat

-

It was an ugly thing – a garish red smile across his neck, below the bob of his Adam’s apple, wider than any smile his lips would have cause to wear.

He barely thought of that night in a dark alley anymore, with the moon dazzling and detached above the Walls, the jingle of what rare coins he’d managed to earn hitting the ground – and, of course, the incisive _shik_ of a knife across his throat.

For a long time after, he would dream about it, and would wake up screaming to the bitter taste of metal, of _blood_ , in his mouth. No amount of spitting or gargling polluted water would help him wash it out, or forget. 

But eventually, when the gesture of wrapping ragged scarves around the wound finally became mechanical, a thing he could do without thinking, he realized he probably wouldn’t have unearthed the will to survive if it hadn’t happened.

He could finally close his eyes and recall the scuffle – could recall desperately pressing one small hand against his gaping neck to keep himself from bleeding out, while the other wrestled the knife from his attacker and stabbed till he came out on top, meagerly richer in food and funds for his frantic efforts.

And since that first kill, that first time watching the life sap out of a larger enemy’s eyes, he’d remained on top, climbing and cutting his way to a position as one of the underworld’s elite. He thought he would stay there forever before he met Erwin, who had quite literally kicked the legs out from under him, sending him toppling once more.

But until this moment, until _this_ night, staring up at Erwin’s arctic blue eyes as they widened marginally, he had no residual reasons to ponder _that_ night again. He turned his head away with a bit too much force, scowling, strands of his newly cut and washed silken black hair whipping into his face, screening it from view.

“It’s nasty, isn’t it?”

“Of course not,” Erwin said gently, replacing his mask of composure, crinkles forming at the corners of his eyes and lips.

Levi glanced back up at him, his rancorous glower deepening. “Don’t bullshit me. I’ll leave if you do.”

Smile unwavering, Erwin bowed over him and murmured, “Please don’t.” His warm breath brushed over the pale shell of Levi’s ear.

Levi glared to withhold a shiver. He crossed his arms over the pristine white dress shirt Erwin had given him to wear beneath the jacket and cape of his new Scouting Legion’s uniform, the collar low enough to expose his horrible scar.

“Whatever.” He sniffed, looking around Erwin’s annoyingly dusty chambers.

He could hear heavy footsteps recede from where he stood, but refused to allow himself the weakness of watching Erwin go, even as his fingers clenched tight around his arms, his knuckles bloodless and deceptively delicate.

And then Erwin returned, a wall between Levi and the room, too great a presence to ignore any longer. Levi peeked up at him through the dark fringe of his lashes, and found that he was still smiling, his sizable hands a cradle for a rectangle of frilly white cloth.

“What’s that, a snot-rag?” Levi asked, impudent as ever. “I ain’t crying about it, you know?”

Erwin chuckled and shook his head, flaxen hair agleam in the faint sunlight that seeped through his chamber windows. “Do you trust me?” he inquired.

Levi swallowed. He could feel the barest pull of scarred skin as he did, too familiar to be discomfiting. He shrugged. “I let you talk me into becoming Titan chow, didn’t I?”

“You won’t,” replied Erwin, drawing closer. Levi tensed, but despite the apparent thickness of his fingers, Erwin’s touch felt tender on his mutilated throat, deftly adorning it in the cloth. Too soon, before Levi could decide whether to lean into or away from him, Erwin extricated himself and said, “It’s a cravat. Take a look.”

He waved Levi toward a simple mirror, and loomed behind him as he inspected his likeness, a washed out creature in monochromatic colors, like a phantom. The cravat didn’t help to reduce that effect, but…

“I look like some posh asshole,” Levi said, deadpan, hand hovering inches away from it.

“Yes,” agreed Erwin, “and very handsome.”

Although he said it mildly, in his typical polite and subdued manner, Levi felt heat flare across his cheeks. He flicked his gaze away from Erwin and the mirror, grumbling, “Don’t be an idiot.”

“Of course,” laughed Erwin, retreating first one step, then two. “I apologize for any forwardness. I gather you can finish dressing on your own?”

“Yeah.”

When the sound of his footfalls finally faded to nothing, Levi touched the cravat tentatively, marveling in its softness. If nothing else, it covered up the scar better than his frayed old scarf ever had. He supposed he could give it – give the Scouting Legion, give _Erwin_ – a fair shot.

He had nothing better to do, anyway.

-

The mountainous slope of Erwin’s broad shoulders and torso shielded Levi from blinding morning sunbeams, but his internal clock woke him up, regardless.

Head yet pillowed on Erwin’s chest, lulled by his steady heartbeat, Levi blinked sleep out of his bleary eyes. The room was enveloped in shadows and light, neither too dim nor too bright, and the cage of Erwin’s arms around his tapered waist felt like a security blanket – something he’d never otherwise owned.

Partly because he didn’t want to seem like he _needed_ it, Levi propped himself up, palms atop Erwin’s supple bed sheets, and began prodding at the man’s face, mumbling, “Hey, old man, get up. You’re gonna be late.”

Erwin’s eyelids fluttered, then rose to expose slivers of his frigid blue irises. His mouth shaped into a smile around the words “Good morning.” He bowed his head to drop Levi a kiss, pulling them flush together.

“Gross,” said Levi, shoving at his face. “Your lips were on my dick last night.”

Erwin arched a fair brow. “I seem to remember you enjoying it then,” he teased, but dutifully disentangled himself and stood.

Levi watched him stretch for a few seconds, unwilling to admit that he already missed their shared warmth, but he wasn’t one to demur often, and today, when neither of them could afford such indulgences, wasn’t the best day to start.

He collected his neatly folded clothes and withdrew to clean up. From a plethora of angles, the mirrors in Erwin’s personal bath reflected faint purple petals of bruises on his neck, clustered together like spring blossoms below the gruesome redness of his scar. He brushed his fingertips across the cold surface of the mirror just prior him, leaving streaks in the muggy steam, before attiring himself in his pants and jacket and gear.

“Need help?”

Erwin stood in the doorway, also freshly dressed. Levi frowned, but ultimately hummed in acquiescence and proffered a clean cravat to him, which Erwin accepted with a strange, careful reverence.

Feigning more irritation than was perhaps necessary, Levi said, “It’s been years and I still can’t figure this shit-rag out.”

“Well, luckily, you have no need to,” answered Erwin, clever hands at Levi’s throat. “Not as long as I’m here.”

“Yeah.”

This time, Levi didn’t dodge the kiss. Erwin’s lips felt soft and sinuous on his, where last night they’d held a sort of hunger, a muted brutality armed by blunt teeth. Levi was content to endure both, but before long, they broke apart.

Smile as immaculate as his unruffled appearance, Erwin said, “You should go. Your new squad awaits, Captain.”

“Yeah,” Levi muttered again.

Erwin’s gaze followed him out.

-

“Have a good day,” Erwin called after him as he left the office.

Levi grunted noncommittally, but they’d known each other long enough, _intimately_ enough, that he was positive Erwin would recognize he meant no offense. If he thought about it too much, Levi grew nettled at their predictability, but it wasn’t like anyone else could fathom it or them – except maybe Hanji, who considered them adorable, but he tried not to think about _that_ , either.

He stalked to the dining hall where his men – and Petra – took their meals, now accompanied by Eren, but hearing the latter’s voice filtering into the hall, young and anxious, he stopped in his tracks.

“Captain Levi is so…mysterious to me,” Eren said. “I can never tell if he’s actually mad or just looks like he is.”

“Probably a bit of both,” Auruo replied, then yelped.

The reason became apparent when Petra said, “It’s treasonous to talk about the captain that way. Besides, who cares? He’s a brilliant leader and warrior.”

“I didn’t even say anything that bad! You’re just huffy because you have a crush on him!” Auruo exclaimed. Before she could sputter a protest, or Eren could apologize for bringing the topic up, he continued mockingly, “And, in spite of it, _you_ don’t know anything more about him than we do, do you, Petra?”

A teacup clinked onto its plate. Calmly, its owner said, “That’s enough.”

“Gunter is right,” Erd added. “Finish your breakfast.”

“Sorry, sir,” whispered an abashed Eren.

More sounds of cutlery echoed. For a minute, all was silent. Then, Auruo groused, “We don’t even know why he wears that fancy cravat. None of the other officers do.”

“And yet you copied him,” Petra said, a little too loudly.

Levi cleared his throat till a hush enveloped the room. He stepped inside and slid his bored stare over them. “Are you soldiers,” he inquired after a terse instant, “or petty court-folk?” When they didn’t respond immediately, his eyes narrowed into slits. “ _Well_?”

They clamored to stand at attention, saluting. “Soldiers, sir!”

“Then quit your gossiping or I’ll assign you to toilet duty,” he replied, and primly took his seat.

After that, no one spoke. Breakfast ended and training began. As he flew through the trees in his 3D Maneuver Gear, a thin golden chain lashed under Levi’s shirt, the ring strung on it cold against his bare chest, hidden from sight by the warmth of his cravat.

“So you always have a piece of me when you’re in the field alone,” Erwin had said when he first gifted it, smile at once fond and sad, a faraway glint in his eyes. “And you always know to come back.”

Levi had complained about how embarrassingly sappy the gesture was, and it’d happened too recently for him to have gone beyond the Walls wearing it since, but something about the ring made his blood sing. He thought he could slay a hundred – a thousand – Titans with its metal over his heart and the metal of his blades in his grip.

-

The fourth, final, extra reason: Levi’s cravat was fucking _stylish_.

-

The End

-

**Author's Note:**

> I wanted to work more Hanji (and Mike) in here, but oh well; at least Squad Levi and Eren got to play a part, right? I'm still new to writing these characters, but I hope this was enjoyable. Please feel free to share your thoughts. :D


End file.
